Year 1 get their hands on some percussion instruments

Crash! Bang! Ting! Year 1 continued their discovery about the senses and this week they were thinking about sound (and hearing). They looked at percussion instruments and discussed ways in which the instruments make a noise. They were fascinated when two maracas made very different sounds and came up with great ideas as to why. “One is made of plastic and one is made of wood.” (Toby) “One has lots of beads in it and the other hasn’t.” (Alec) The children went on to explore whether the quantity and/or materials make an effect on the sound produced by filling bottles with dried peas, sand and paper clips.

After they had reported back their findings, the children then went to work and, using their very evident creative skills, made their own percussion instruments. The following day, they took these to Mr Michener in Music and accompanied his piano playing with their ‘orchestra’!

We would like to thank you very much for your donations of recyclable junk; our lesson would not have allowed for so many impressive ideas and results.